Thondan : A movie made with lots of good intentions

Post 2005, a new generation wave hit the Tamil movie industry, and it paved the path towards renaissance of the fraternity. The leader behind this movement was none other than Samuthirakani, who redefined the way of movie making through the film “Naadodigal” which was released on 2009. The film emerged as one of the biggest hits of the year, and it reshaped the way of story telling in Tamil movies. From then, Samuthirakani has made it a habit of delivering hits by following the most unconventional paths of narration. The director has always made sure that his movie will convey a strong social message to the audiences, and he has done the same through “Thondan”, his latest film which reached the theaters on May 26, 2017.

Samuthirkani himself has played the lead character in this movie, while Vikranth appears in another powerful role. The supporting star cast includes, Sunaina, Anil Murali, Gnanasambandam, Soori and Ganja Karuppu.

Please scroll down to read our genuine and unbiased review of “Thondan”.

A movie laced with several social messages

As expected, “Thondan” is a typical Samuthirakani movie which is laced with various thought provoking questions. The director has tried to tell various relevant social messages on issues like feminism, agricultural issues, caste system, corruption and abuse against women. The film is undoubtedly a top-rated lecture on life lessons, and this makes “Thondan” a must watch flick on theaters.

Samuthirakani plays the role of Vishnu, an ex-army man in this movie. He is now leading his life as an ambulance driver, and as of now, he has saved the lives of more than 1000 victims. In the initial part of the movie, Vishnu saves the life of a goon from the attack of minister’s son (Namo Narayana), and this creates tiff between them. To make things worse, Narayana’s brother (Soundararajan) attacks a girl in a college, but soon takes his last breath after facing attack from her class mates. Interestingly, the girl who instigated the attack is Vishnu’s sister. Now, Namo Narayana wants to take revenge on Vishnu by destroying his family.

Predictable, but strong and powerful

“Thondan” may be a predictable movie, but what makes this film worth a watch is its strong content. The dialogues are written well, and it will surely create an impact in the minds of the viewers. One scene which took the theaters to storm was Samuthirakani’s long dialogue which explains about the Jallikattu issue. He even breathlessly names the various indigenous breeds of bulls and cows which existed in the past.

In another scene, we can witness Samuthirakani giving a lecture to Vikranth’s character who stalked his sister. The words he delivered about women justice is a real eye opener for everyone who consider girls as a commodity. Soori’s punch dialogue about corruption too hit the Bull’s Eye, and it created a huge rage among the viewers. Even though little preachy in nature, we should laud the director for his good intentions.

Samuthirakani is a born actor, and he has the capability to pull out any characters with utmost perfection. In this movie, he has given full justice to the role of Mahavishnu, a committed Ambulance driver. His eyes spoke a lot throughout the movie, and in emotional scenes, it was a real treat to watch this awesome performer ruling the screens in style. Sunaina has nothing much to do in this movie except to build a love track with Samuthirakani.

It is Vikranth who impressed everyone with his subtle acting. Samuthirakani, as a director has reaped the best from Vikranth, and finally, it emerged as the career best performance of the actor. All other supporting star cast too did their roles with perfection.

Technical Analysis

The movie is strong in its technical side. Justin Prabhakaran’s music has elevated the overall mood of the movie. The background score which is used in this movie is so powerful, and it will touch the audience’s heart without any doubt. N K Ekambaram and Richard M Nathan has cranked the camera for this film. The visuals are outstanding, and the color grading is perfect. A L Ramesh’s editing could have been more crisp so that audiences will not feel any kind of lag in the overall proceedings.

3.5

Final Verdict

A real gem of a film which will haunt you even after you leave the theaters. "Watch it and feel the Samuthirakani magic".